[PHOTO: Ezra Shaw]
As some folks pointed out on Golf Twitter/X, the cut-line drama as the second round drew to a close at the WM Phoenix Open was absolute cinema. It reached its peak when amateur Luke Clanton had a birdie putt at the last to make the cut, which would have earned him his PGA Tour card. His ball just slid past the left edge, causing the 21-year-old to bury his head in his hands. What scenes.
Fortunately for the American college sensation, that wasn’t the end of his tour career. He will get there in due time. But the situation highlighted an important fact – there is nothing like watching high-level players grind to make the weekend. Naturally, the PGA Tour turns the page this week to another no-cut, small-field, signature event, removing all the great mid-tournament drama diehard golf fans live for.
While the players trying to make the cut certainly don’t live for it, they acknowledge just how much it gets their juices flowing. After all, for guys right on the cutline, they are quite literally playing for a pay cheque that week. And by making the weekend, you give yourself an opportunity to add a few zeroes to that cheque, too. As Ben Griffin told us this week, fighting to make the cut is by far the situation that makes him the most nervous on the PGA Tour.
“I think that’s where you see the most nerves [when you’re on the cutline], at least for me,” Griffin said. “Your strategy kind of changes. I was talking to someone recently at Pebble Beach, and they were like, ‘So does there not being a cut affect your play on Friday?’
“I’m like, ‘Well, actually it changes it a lot because down the stretch, if I was close to a cutline – let’s say I was on a cutline on the 18th hole at Pebble. I might play that hole significantly differently than if there’s no cut. I can kind of challenge the water a little bit more, try to make an eagle or birdie. Whereas if I need to make par, I might say, All right, let’s hit a 3-wood off this tee, open up the fairway a little bit, maybe lay up, put a wedge on and give yourself a putt. Worst case, you’re teeing it up tomorrow.’
“The moments like that where the cut can kind of change your strategy and also make you feel a little bit of pressure.”
Reminder, this is coming from a guy who had a short putt to win the 2023 Sanderson Farms Championship (Griffin missed, then lost in a playoff to Luke List). That was as pressure-packed a situation as it gets, perhaps the only one on par with clawing to make it to Saturday.
